If you and your friends ever encourage each other to further bad behavior, you’re in good company. Parrots in Lincolnshire Wildlife Centre have the same problem. (1)
The Swearing Parrots
The Lincolnshire Wildlife Centre has 200 African Gray parrots. However, five of them became a real problem. Billy, Elsie, Eric, Jade, and Tyson are those five. Steve Nichols, the zoo’s executive, says that guests tend to get a real kick out of it. “When a parrot tells you to fuck off’ it amuses people very highly,” he says. “It’s brought a big smile to a really hard year.”
It’s also very unusual. “We are quite used to parrots swearing,” admits Nichols. “But we’ve never had five at the same time. Most parrots clam up outside, but for some reason these five relish it.”
The decision was made in order to save the ears of children. The parrots are all still in the wildlife center; just now in different areas of the park. (1)
How The Park Reacted To The Swearing
Nichols tells a story of storming into a room, ready to discipline what he believed were potty-mouthed park employees. But, inside that room were no people–just the five parrots.
Another time, he says, a group of women went through the aviary and were greeted with vulgar comments. They believed that there must be park members hidden somewhere in the aviary. However, when people know it’s the birds, they tend to delight in it. In fact, it’s quite common for park visitors to swear right back. (2)
Why That Reaction Causes Problems
“When a parrot swears, it’s very difficult for other humans not to laugh. “And when we laugh, that’s a positive response,” explains Nichols. “Therefore, what they do is they learn both the laugh and the swear word. It’s not so bad with one on its own. But then, if you get five together, once one swears and another one laughs, and another one laughs.”
The birds giving each other such positive reinforcement means that “before you know it, it sounds like a group of teenagers or an old working men’s club.”
The swearing parrots have also–indirectly–caused another set of problems. The birds were removed from the public exhibits for a bit. But visitors to the wildlife center didn’t know that. As a result, some of these people would swear at random groups of parrots, hoping to prompt them into swearing back. (2)
Swearing Parrots No More?
All five of the parrots were surrendered from different owners across England, all of whom mentioned a problem with appropriate language. But, since birds tend to adapt to the behaviors of the birds, it shouldn’t be a hard fix. The plan is for the parrots to be placed with birds who won’t give them the same positive, jovial response for their naughty words. Nichols hopes the separation will prevent them from “set[ting] each other off.” Furthermore, he hopes time in a new environment will reveal a side to these parrots previously unseen. “They’ve probably got a really good vocabulary, too. It’s just we’ve only heard the swear words.”
